


hark, now hear the sailors cry (smell the sea and feel the sky)

by Laurelgand



Category: GreedFall (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, GreedFall Spoilers, I'm going off the rails here canon-wise, Lots of Fluff and Romance, M/M, Multi, Naut!de Sardet, Polyamory, Post-Game, Spiders gave me an awesome faction, Tags will be updated as needed, and no lore, i want healthy poly relationships, i'm making a lot of stuff up, my city now, seriously a lot of spoilers, so this may start a bit slow!, this will approach romance novel status and im only vaguely ashamed lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 14:36:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurelgand/pseuds/Laurelgand
Summary: 'She turned from the window to find him at the table; he was shaking documents off a larger, thicker piece of parchment. As more illustrations appeared, she realized it was an extremely detailed map, edges worn from age and use. He laid it over the uneven surface, and she moved to stand beside him. “I have never seen a map like this, Vasco. Ours are missing so much,” she said softly, awed by the secrets it held. There were landmasses she had not known existed, and oceans that stretched on for eons. His hand hovered over the exquisitely crafted map and then stopped above a strand of small islands southwest of the continent.'De Sardet joins the Nauts, Vasco becomes a Commander, and Kurt's just along for the ride.





	hark, now hear the sailors cry (smell the sea and feel the sky)

When she had landed on Tir Fradi’s shores over a year ago she had thought her days at sea were over. As much as she had loved the trip, the sights and sounds and spirit of the crew, Eloise had always known it was a means to an end. On the island laid her duty, but she had never once considered what would come after that. And how could she when her goal had been one hundreds had failed at already? Eloise had prayed, had fought, to succeed but had never truly thought she would. The Malichor had been all-encompassing, a sweeping black shadow of death that followed her every move, coloring it with sorrow and hurt. And, against all odds, it was vanishing now.

The _after_ she had always hoped to have, but never planned for, had arrived and she found herself floundering. Eloise felt as though she had taken every bit of sickness that she had cured into herself. And, as she stood at the docks for yet another time, she wondered if this counted as running into or away from her fate. Every choice she had made thus far had been guided; she had been placed on this path by circumstance and the machinations of those in power. What would happen when she stepped off of it and into something she had chosen for herself?

“You think too much.” Kurt said beside her, the ever constant, ever loyal presence he had always been. He had become her dearest friend in the past year; they had faced their own demons together, side-by-side, and it was strange that she might set off into the unknown without him. “Isn’t your sailor waiting for you on board already?”

“You know me, Kurt. Always introspective.” She said dryly. Eloise knew Vasco was already aboard the Sea-Horse, he had left for it the previous day. The ship was his home, and she knew how terribly it had hurt him to be separated from it, and his family. The first few weeks away from the sea had been hard on him, his tongue sharp and edges sharper. He had been bitter, angry, and she had not blamed him when he resented her. And though he has been smoothed by perspective, and then vindication, he still ached for the rolling waves beneath his feet.

“Always sarcastic, too.” He said, humor edging into his tone. Kurt was… lighter than she had ever seen him; for as long as she had known him, he had carried a weight on his shoulders. He bore it like a punishment, ever burdened and pained, but never complaining. But more and more she saw how he suffered. As his student she had not seen it for what it was, trauma and grief, but as time passed on the island, she became aware. She had seen the embodiment of the nightmares he fought in the dead of night, and it had been terrible.

“I was thinking of how lonely it will be without you.”

“Who said you would be without me?” Kurt crossed his arms. “If you think I’d abandon you after everything we’ve been through just because you’ve gone and joined the Nauts,” he said, a serious sort of gleam to his eyes, “then you don’t know me half as well as I thought you did.” He looked toward the ship, eyeing a long Jacob’s ladder tossed down from a gap in the ship’s railing. “I’ve already worked it out with Vasco, and we’ve reached an… understanding about my coming along.”

Eloise laughed. “I would never have called _my_ leaving an abandonment on your end. You are my friend, Kurt. I would have understood if you needed to stay.” His tone gave her pause. Kurt and Vasco had gotten along well during their time on the island, she might have even said they had become friends, but she had not thought he would be comfortable under Vasco’s command. And the both of them would be. Vasco was the only one of them with any real standing amongst the Nauts.

“Who would watch your back if I did stay behind? Vasco has a fleet of people to watch over now, to keep safe. I’ve only got you.” Eloise bit the inside of her cheek, his words striking at her already wounded heart. It was true, in more than one way, that she was all he had. And, save for Vasco, he was all she had left from her life before Tir Fradi. Constantin’s betrayal, and his death, had been terribly difficult on the both of them. She had not been the only one to consider him a brother, nor been his only protector, and his absence was like a yawning chasm between them.

“I know, Kurt. Thank you, truly.” She bumped her shoulder against his. It was comforting to know that, no matter what happened and what she did, Kurt would always be by her side. “Shall we see what the Sea-Horse has in store for us?” he nodded, his polished cuirass reflecting the pale blue of the growing dawn. The sun barely peeked beyond the horizon, golden and bright, and she so dearly hoped it would be a good omen for their new start.

They made their way toward the rope-strung ladder and, as she steadied herself on the first step, she heard Vasco’s voice from the deck above. “Those are to be sent to my cabin, not the crew’s quarters.” She had not seen him the night before, busy collecting her belongings from her residence in New Serene, and it had been strange. There had scarcely been a night since they met that they had not been together, even before they had become more than comrades, and being left with her own thoughts for the night had been supremely isolating.

She started to climb; the ropes tightened when Kurt’s foot laid at the first rung, weighing it down, and she shimmied up as quickly as she could, not willing to take a dip in the no doubt freezing bay water. One of the sailors spotted her and offered her an arm up, which she took gratefully, and grinned when she recognized the face that came into view as she was hauled upwards. “Lauro! How good to see you again.”

Eloise released his arm, stood up straight, and peeked over the edge; Kurt was almost to the top himself, much steadier on the rungs than she had been, and Lauro laughed. “Glad to see you too, milady! I wasn’t expecting that to be you comin’ up the ladder.” He paused, eyes narrowing as she turned her face back to his, and then he looked flabbergasted. “But maybe I should have. Those,” he gestured toward her tattooed chin and mouth, “are new.”

Kurt grunted as he pulled himself up by one side of the ship’s railing; Eloise shrugged, smiling at Lauro. “Our dear Commander is a man worth becoming new for.” The truth of the matter was that she knew Vasco would have followed her no matter what she decided, even if that meant staying on land. But he never would have truly been happy without the sea. She could not have claimed to love him and, in the same breath, take all that he knew from him.

Lauro _beamed_, “Well, that explains why there’s twice the cargo goin’ to his cabin.” He looked better than he had during their previous meetings; he had claimed to have dried out, forgone liquor for the ways it had affected him, and his relationships with his family, when they had arrived on Tir Fradi. Jonas’ kidnapping had affected him deeply; no one had believed him when it mattered most. “So long as you’re good for him, none of us will give it another thought.”

Kurt snorted as he stood behind her, obviously amused, “What would the court say, Eloise?” _Oh_, she knew what they would say. They would wring their hands, tutting at the thought of her sharing not only quarters but a bed with a man, unmarried and below her station, and all sorts of other drivel she had no patience for any longer. She had wasted too many years playing the role of a good little diplomat, never realizing how used she had been. Any loyalty she held for the Congregation and its’ Prince had died with Constantin, buried beneath the earth and his body.

She rolled her eyes, barely suppressing a grimace. “The Court can get stuffed, Kurt. I do not answer to them any longer, and their inane senses of propriety can go straight to the bottom of the ocean for all I care.” Kurt coughed, covering a sharp bark of laughter, and Lauro did not bother to hide his. “Besides, I do believe have earned my right to do as I wish.”

“I’d say so.” Kurt said, “And they can’t exactly complain if you’re hundreds of miles away anyhow.”

The deck was a flurry of activity, the many sailors assigned to the ship all rushing about to ready for their departure, and Lauro waved them out of the way of the ladder and toward the center of the deck. “She’s one of ours now, don’t think they could risk sayin’ anythin’ without the Admiral gettin’… _testy_, however close they are.” The sailor said, nodding a little at his own words. “Commander should give you two some duties once we shove off.”

“Protective of your own, are you?” Kurt asked, only slightly swaying with the ship’s movement on the water.

She scanned the area for Vasco, now only half listening to Kurt and Lauro’s conversation. It was almost involuntary, the way her eyes tried to seek him out. It took her a long moment, his silhouette lost among a hundred others, but she soon spotted the red-orange hue of his new coat. The leather was freshly oiled, material slick in the sunlight, and the bronze buckles gleamed almost proudly across his uniform. The replacement of his old coat had been mostly out of necessity, the original gray garment ruined beyond repair during their many escapades across the island, but the change in color was indicative of his promotion as much as the new tattoos beneath his lower lashes.

Vasco must have felt her eyes on him because he looked away from the pile of crates on the deck to gaze back at her. Eloise’s lips curled into a smile; he looked more at peace than he had in many months, the conflict that had warred in his heart seemingly vanished into the waves as soon as he set foot upon his ship once more. He beckoned her over with a quick tilt of his head to the left, and she nodded back.

“Excuse me, gentlemen.” She said, never taking her eyes off of Vasco, “I will catch up with you two later.”

Kurt raised a single questioning brow, then followed her gaze toward Vasco and nodded, a soft sort of understanding in his expression. “If I don’t see you in a few hours, I’ll find you and your sailor. Until then,” he looked toward Lauro, “I can help with the cargo loading.” Lauro smiled gratefully, and they parted ways, the two men headed for the bow of the ship and she toward the stern, just before a set of curved stairs that led toward the Vasco’s cabin and the ship’s wheel.

Vasco was waiting there for her, and she brushed her fingers against his. It was meant to be subtle, to not draw attention to them, but it seemed her lover had another idea in mind when he instead laced their fingers together. “I hadn’t realized how used to your presence I had become until I did not have you.” he said, voice soft and his eyes softer, as he lifted her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

Eloise felt her heart swell, heavy emotion rising in her throat. “I missed you too, Vasco.” She had felt infatuation before, childish crushes on the few others her age at Court and short-term, meaningless lovers, but she had never _loved_ before Vasco. She craved him with her heart and soul; just being close to him now was enough to lift her spirits, to raise her up high and make her giddy, and she knew that he would always hold a piece of her. “Are you glad to be aboard your ship again?”

“More than glad, and even gladder to have you and Kurt along.” He smiled, the right side of his lips lifting just the slightest bit more than the left. “I’ll admit I was surprised when he approached me about joining us, but maybe I should have expected it.” He released her hand somewhat reluctantly and she took a step back from him.

“Kurt has always been… protective?” she pursed her lips, thinking of how he had been she and her cousin’s shadow for so many of the years he had been in the court’s employ. “The Court of my—” she stumbled over the word ‘_uncle_’ that laid on the tip of her tongue, wondering what the Prince D’orsay truly was to her anymore, “well, the Court of the merchant Prince is not a kind place, especially not to a pair of soft children. He foiled more than one assassination attempt before we could fight back on our own.” And the irony was not lost on her that it was _her_ hands Constantin had died by, rather than any stranger in the dark. The hands Kurt had trained to protect him.

“It’s understandable. You were his charge for many years, and then his friend after that. It’s hard to shake old habits, like watching over a loved one.” Vasco frowned. “The more you speak of life among nobility, the more grateful I am to have been spared it. Trying to murder children, it’s abominable.”

“That makes you a better man than most in Serene.”

“That doesn’t seem difficult, Eloise.” His tone was somber now, perhaps even disappointed, and she shrugged.

“It, sadly, was not.” She sighed heavily, crossing her arms over her chest, “But let us speak of less macabre things. The sins of those who raised me are not pleasant topics. Not when we are on the eve of a life that does not involve them anymore.” There had been children who ceased coming to court, and, young as she still was, she had thought their parents had kept them away. It was not until she was a woman, out of her teens and thrust into true court life, that she realized the truth. The ambition of their families had killed them, for they had no one like Kurt to keep them safe from the consequences.

Vasco hesitated for a moment, lips firm line, then nodded. “Alright. I won’t press you.”

“Thank you.” She took in a deep breath, pointedly ignoring how it shuddered as she breathed out. “Give me something to do. I need… something else to think of.”

“That,” he gestured upward toward the stairs, “I can do. Your things have been moved to my cabin but have yet to be unpacked. I thought you might wish to do that yourself. Though,” amusement crept into his voice, “you never did stop living out of crates in your manor by the palace.” She laughed a little, feeling lighter already, and she made her way up the stairs and toward the ajar door to his cabin.

“It is not as though we spent much time there.” She had not seen the point of settling in at the time; almost the entirety of their lives on the island was spent on the road, moving from campsite to campsite and the occasional stay in one of her residences in the city. It was easier to pack a bag from an already organized crate rather than a dresser she would have simply thrown everything into. “But I imagine these quarters will be a tad more permanent than our previous set.”

“If our good fortune holds.”

Eloise found his cabin cozier than she imagined it would have been. And perhaps it made sense that it was smaller. There was only so much room on a ship, only so much weight it could carry before it slowed; their quarters were split into two rooms, the one they were standing in larger than the one on the far side of the cabin. The front room reminded her of a parlor, with cabinets and shelves bolted to the flooring and walls. There was art on the walls, a few oil paintings and several tapestries made of weaved, colored silks. There were places the Nauts had been that few others had, and the storied history of the Sea-Horse was spread across her walls.

A long, narrow table balanced in the center of the room, a half dozen matching chairs set around it; papers were strewn across the table, as well as several leather-bound books and a collapsed spyglass. Large, globular oil lanterns swung gently from the ceiling, their metal knobs a polished bronze. Heavy sapphire curtains hung over the thick windows on either side of the room, sweeping onto the floor, and several plush carpets were laid down about the room, intricate patterns woven into their surfaces.

The door to the next room was open, and through it she could barely make out the outline of a massive desk and a single post from a bedframe. “Are we ready to set sail?” She asked, moving to peek through the yellowed glass of the windows and out to the sea, now washed green. The water was calm, barely moving with the wind, but she knew looks could be deceiving. “You still have not told me our destination.”

“I wasn’t completely sure of it until this morning. Admiral Cabral wants us to make an appearance at Port Sabasso.” While she did not recognize the name of the port, she knew enough about the Nauts figure it out. Vasco had mentioned their islands a handful of times, and she had heard talk of it at the docks among the sailors. A glorious land of ports and bustling waterways.

"Oh?"

“Come here, I’ll show you.”

She turned from the window to find him at the table; he was shaking documents off a larger, thicker piece of parchment. As more illustrations appeared, she realized it was an extremely detailed map, edges worn from age and use. He laid it over the uneven surface, and she moved to stand beside him. “I have never seen a map like this, Vasco. Ours are missing so much,” she said softly, awed by the secrets it held. There were landmasses she had not known existed, and oceans that stretched on for eons. His hand hovered over the exquisitely crafted map, and stopped above a strand of small islands southwest of the continent.

“These are the Iolanda Islands, they’re named after the woman who discovered them and founded our guild.” He explained, “And our capital is here, on the largest one. That’s Port Sabasso. The admiral has orders that need to be delivered, and my promotion has to be recorded in our archives.”

“They seem far away.” Though she did not know the map, she could read it, and the time it would take to reach them from New Serene was not insignificant. At least as long as the journey back to the continent, and that was what seemed like a world away; and, perhaps, she needed to be yet another world away. It had not _quite_ done the trick the first time around. “What are they like?”

Vasco breathed in deeply, “You called Serene a port, and a fine place it was, but it has nothing on Sabasso. The reef around the harbor keeps it impassable to navigators that do not intimately know our waters. It could hold an entire fleet, and then some.” His gloved fingers tapped on the island itself. “The city itself is difficult to describe. There’s not much you cannot find there. Few strangers come ashore, but we have a steady supply of goods. Trade deals are lucrative if no one else can facilitate them.” His lips twitched, “It can get rowdy, however, especially at night when the sailors are released from duty.”

Eloise tried to imagine what the Naut capital might be like; dozens upon dozens of ships moving in and out of the currents, hundreds of sailors milling about. A city had to have homes, markets, and she wondered what those might be like in Sabasso. The port seemed to take up a large part of the isle, if the coloration on the map was anything to go by, and a few smaller ports dotted the main island and the rest in the chain. She knew they were inventors, scientists even, and she supposed they might make their oceanic wonders in those hidden, safe places.

“I cannot wait to see it.” she breathed, voice barely more than a whisper.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Hauling Wind: To point a ship in the direction of the wind.  
2\. Eloise and Vasco are already an established couple, and I'm going to work Kurt's wonderful self in!  
3\. I am making up all sorts of lore now! The Nauts are a faction I've utterly fallen in love with and since we have no info for them, I'm going to make it all up myself. I did a stupid amount of research for this fic, I expect it to be somewhat long. Everything mentioned is just my personal headcanons.  
4\. I really did not like how, even when de Sardet joins the Nauts, Vasco still refuses his promotion and essentially abandons the sea. Lame! I'm tossing that out! This is really gonna branch out after this, and a lot of it on the sea and my version of the Naut islands. Let me know what you think! I'm excited to be writing for a fandom again!


End file.
